Looking back at Le Mans 2015
Porsche has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans once again, making this their 17th victory in the greatest race in the world, more than anyone else in history. Remarkably, Porsche has achieved victory in only their second season since their return to endurance racing. Their last Le Mans win was all the way back in 1998.
Le Mans is a 24-hour endurance race where cars of several different classes compete together. This allows teams of various different budgets and skill levels to compete. Le Mans Prototype 1(LMP1 )is the fastest, most powerful and most expensive class. LMP2 cars are slower and cheaper, but they are thoroughbred racing prototypes. Then there are two road-car based classes, GT Pro (professional) and GT Am (amateur).The car that covers the longest distance in 24 hours wins the race, with winners from each different class.
The winning Porsche 919 has a 2.0 liter V4 turbo with a lithium ion battery based energy recovery system. The engine delivers 500hp and the electric motors contribute 400hp for a total of 900hp. The Audi R18 utilizes a 4.0 litreV6 that delivers 550 hp and a flywheel kinetic energy recovery system (KERS). A flywheel KERS converts energy recovered during braking into rotational kinetic energy that is stored in a small rotating flywheel inside the car. This rotational energy is then converted to electrical energy, which provides 268 hp the electric motors. Max power for the Audi is 818hp.
Toyota has an even more powerful car, the TS040, which is very different in concept. It has a 3.7 liter naturally aspirated V8, with a super capacitor based hybrid system. It produces 1000hp. However, it proved to be slower than the Audi and Porsche.
The Nissan GTR-LM Nismo is entirely different from any other Le Mans prototype ever designed. Nowadays, all Le Mans prototypes are mid-engine rear wheel drive (MR) cars. This provides the best compromise between weight distribution, power delivery and keeping the car light. However, Nissan designed a front engine, front wheel drive prototype, which is unthinkable in Le Mans. Their purpose was to create a car with massive downforce, by creating space in the rear and designing huge ground effects tunnels. Nissan also utilizes flywheel KERS.
Prior to the race, it was obvious that the Audi and the Porsche were the fastest cars. However, no one knew which of the two were ahead. Qualifying would prove that the Porsche was faster, but the gap was shocking. It was more than 2.5 seconds a lap ahead of Audi. Toyota were the third fastest, which was a disappointment because they had the fastest car last year – in fact they are the defending World Endurance Champions. Nissan was disgracefully slow, 20 seconds down on Porsche.
The race itself was eventful, as Le Mans always is. Unlike the elitism of F1, Le Mans is extremely inclusive, resulting in a massive audience of over 265,000 people. More than just a mere race, it is considered a holiday weekend.
24 hours worth of racing is impossible to describe within reasonable space. The battle between Porsche and Audi was intense from the moment it began. There were hours of flat out wheel to wheel racing and the lead changed between the R18 and 919 many times. The battle lasted into the night, but by the time race entered its second half it was clear that Porsche had an unbeatable lead. Audi conceded defeat and from then on the fight was between the two leading Porsches.
Of course, in as is usual in Le Mans there were a number of high-speed crashes. One of the most significant was when an Audi spun out and damaged its nosecone. However, it managed to limp back to the pits and its damaged bodywork replaced. There was also incident in the pit lane when a Ferrari 458 burst into flames.
Ultimately, it was a Porsche 1-2. The winning car was #19, driven by Earl Bamber, Niko Hulkenberg, and Nick Tandy. Especially significant is the fact that Hulkenberg is also a current F1 driver, winning Le Mans on his very first try. LMP2 class winners were KCMG, in the Oreca 05 Nissan. Interestingly, the 'slower' LMP2 Nissan finished 126 laps more than the factory backed LMP1 Nissan GTR. Corvette Racing-GM won GT Pro class, SMP Racing won GT Am with a Ferrari 458.
This edition of Le Mans has been historic because Porsche has won for the first time since 1998, ending Audi's run of 5 consecutive wins in 2010-14. Porsche has extended their record for the most Le Mans wins of any manufacturer with 17 in total, Audi is in second place with 13 wins. Toyota disappointed this year and Nissan were an utter disappointment. However, there was plenty of good racing and the future looks bright for endurance racing, because the end of Audi's dominance can only be good for the show.
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